The Odyssey Flashcards
Nostos
Homeward-journey, usually from war to original homeland
the main theme in the Odyssey
Xenia
hospitality/guest-friendship
relationship between elite men (host-guest)
A good host welcomes and provides shelter, washing, food
A good guest tells their story
a theme in the Odyssey
Pompe
Assistance with the guests onward journey
Odysseus stops in the Odyssey
- Troy
- Cicones
- Lotus Eaters
- Cyclops
- Aeolus
- Laestrygonians
- Circe
- Land of Dead
- Circe again
10 Sirens
11/12. Scylla and Charybdis - Cattle of the sun
- Calypso
- Phaeacians
- Ithaca
Summary of Odysseys Book 9
The narrative is told by Odysseus, who is staying at the court of the Phaeacians and telling them an after-dinner story. He begins the story with his stop with the Cicones, where they killed and took over the town. They then faced attacks from the Cicones’ neighbors, leading to them losing 6 of their men They then faced the Lotus-eaters. Then, they reached the land of the Cyclops. They reached Polyphemus’s cave, where they ate his food. Polyphemus arrives and is angry about having strangers in his home. He then asks about who they are and how they ended up here. He proceeds to eat four of his men. When he goes to attend his flock, Odysseus plans to hurt him with olive wood. Odysseus then gets Polyphemus drunk on wine and tells him his name is Noman. Then, when he is drunk, Odysseus stabs him in the eye. Polyphemus tries to get help, but due to Odysseus’ trick, nobody thinks he is in danger. Then Odysseus and his men escape. When leaving, Odysseus taunts him and gets him angry. His crew tells him to stop, but he doesn’t and continues to taunt him. Polyphemus reveals the prophecy about how he will lose his vision at the hands of Odysseus.
What is the Cyclops culture?
They are pastoral, no common laws, no shops, very unGreek
How is Polyphemus a weird host?
He eats his “guests” rather than feeding them
His “gift” is the offer to “eat No Man last”
How is Odysseus a weird guest
He enters the cave of Polyphemus without an invite.
Metis
Cunning intelligence
About using found objects and sneaky smarts to solve problems
Odysseus a prime example of metis
He uses the wood from Calypso’s island to get away from her
He uses the olive wood and sheep from Polyphemus’s island to get away from him
The No Man Name trick
The trick makes Polyphemus unable to get help from his fellows since he screams no man, making people think he is fine.
Unlike Achilles, Odysseus can deal with having no name, but then he reveals his name
Theocritus, Cyclops poem summary
The poem is about Polyphemus loving Galatea and wanting to be with her. He confesses his love, but they can’t be together because she lives in the water. In the end, he talks to himself about how it is okay and that he can have someone else. But can he?
Who was Theocritus?
Lived in 200 BCE
Who is Polyphemus?
The cyclops
his father is Poseidon
Summary of the Odyssey Book 10 Part 1
Odysseus arrives on the island of Aeolus, where he receives good xenias. Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of leather, which he ties the winds inside. They sent sail, but Odysseus fell asleep, leading to his crew making the mistake of opening the bag, believing it had silver. They let the wind escape, taking them back to Aeolus. They went back to Aeolus for help, but he told them to leave due to them not having the favor of the gods. Odysseus then reached the Laestrygonians, who were very big and a lot. They disembark and meet a friendly girl-giant but then her dad tries to eat them. Odysseus is the only captain, who moors his ship outside the harbor, allowing him and his crew to survive. The men in the other 11 ships are eaten.
Summary of the Odyssey Book 10 Part 2
Odysseus arrives at Aeaea, home of Circe. Odysseus sees smoke from Circe’s palace. Odysseus makes half his men, led by Eurylochus, go investigate. She’s singing and weaving. Circe invites them in and drugs them to forget home, and turns them into pigs with her wand. Eurylochus suspected tricks, allowing him to remain un-pigged. Eurylochus reports to Odysseus, who goes to Circe to get back his crew. On his way, Odysseus meets Hermes, who gives him MOLY and a set of instructions to defeat Circe.
Circe supplicates Odysseus, names him, and invites him to bed. He makes her swear an oath not to hurt him; then they have sex. Her slaves give him a nice bath and feast (good xenia), and on Odysseus’s request, Circe un-pigs the men.
They all stay for one year. The men persuade Odysseus to supplicate Circe to let them go.
She does, with instructions about the next step on the journey: a visit to the house of Hades, and Tiresias, the prophet.
How does Circe magic work?
By potions/drugs and magic wand
Odysseus counters her magic with Moly and oath
She is a goddess
Oikos
household
What happens to Elpenor?
Elpenor, the youngest crew-member, has got wasted and falls from the upper floor of Circe’s house, breaking his neck.
Summary of Odyssey Book 12
The book begins with them returning from the land of the dead to Circe’s home, who tells Odysseus the route to get home. Circe tells him how he will encounter the Sirens that will try to lure them in, so to stop that, he needs to use wax to plug the sailors’ ears and to be tied up with ropes on the ship. After they pass the sirens, they have two paths to choose from: either Charybdis (where everyone would die) or Scylla (where six men would die). After crossing, they will reach Thrinacia, where the cattle of the sun god, and Circe warns Odysseus not to eat the cattle cause if not, everyone will die. Odysseus returns to his men and tells them what they need to do to pass the Sirens, and they do what he says and pass through unharmed. They then sailed to the side of the path where Scylla was, but Odysseus didn’t tell his crew about the impending death of six of the men. They then pass through after six of their men are eaten, and Odysseus tells the crew how they can’t eat the cattle of the sun god if they do, they would face danger. They reached the island and stayed there for a month, where they were living off the supplies. Odysseus leaves, and then the crew decides to break their oath and eat one of the cattle of the sun. Helius tells Zeus to punish Odysseus’ men for eating his cattle, and he says that he will destroy their ship. They then left the island, but Zeus sent them a storm that caused everyone to go overboard and everyone to die except Odysseus. Odysseus, thanks to his resourcefulness, survived and ended up on the island of Calypso.
Who are the sirens?
They are part-bird female creatures that Odysseus encounters in Book 12
Who is Scylla?
A creature with six dog heads that Odysseus encounters in Book 12
Who is Charybdis?
A giant whirlpool that is ready to eat with Odysseus encounters in his travel.
What is the poem Siren Song about?
It is about the siren song to lure men and they use different things to lure them in. But in the end they always fall for it.
Who is Helius?
He is the sun god and his cattle (who are protected by his daughers) are eaten by Odysseus’ men leading to him being angry.
Orientation for the Odyssey Endings
Odysseus gets home to Ithaca, his home island, on a magical self-steering ship given by the Phaecians. All his men are now dead, drowned, or eaten along the way. Luckily for him, he still has a lot of treasure, the guidance of Athena, and his wits about him. He and Athena plan how to defeat the suitors who have taken up in his palace and are courting his wife, Penelope, and bullying his almost-adult son, Telemachus, while Odysseus’ old father, Laertes, is too frail to do anything much except hang out in the orchard being bedraggled. Odysseus is disguised, thanks to Athena, who is great at that stuff, as an old beggar, so none of the people who once knew him can recognize him. He takes up residence in the hut of the enslaved swineherd, Eumaeus, who shows him kind hospitality. His old dog, not fooled by the disguise, recognizes his old master, but instantly dies (cue the tears). Odysseus comes to the palace in the beggar guise, and the suitors are rude and unwelcoming to him.
Summary of Odyssey Book 19
They are at dinner, where one of the suitors is being rude to Odysseus. Penelope then tells him to sit with her to ask him some questions. Penelope asks who he is, and he tries to avoid the question. Penelope then mentions how much she misses her husband and how she is trying to stall his return. Odysseus then says where he is from and how he hosted her husband. Penelope then asked him to prove that he did by testing him. The beggar then reveals the clothing Odysseus was wearing, leading Penelope to believe him. Odysseus tells her to stop coming and that he believes that her husband is coming back to Ithaca. She then treats the beggar well but tells the servants to wash him and give him sheets. Eurycleia (Odysseus’ nanny) cleans the beggar’s feet and realizes that it is his master due to his scar. She gets excited and wants to reveal that Odysseus has returned, but Odysseus chokes her and tells her not to say anything. Penelope then returns and asks for the beggar’s opinion of her dream of the geese and how the eagle kills the geese. He responds that it means Odysseus is going to comeback and ruin all the suitors.
Summary of Odyssey Book 21
Penelope sets a contest for any man who can string her husband’s bow, and shoot an arrow through all 12 axe heads lined up in a row in the great hall, will get to be her husband. Telemachus tries and luckily fails (that would been creepy). The suitors try and fail. At last, the old beggar has a go. The suitors taunt him and think that the old beggar should not have a go. Penelope says it doesn’t matter, but then Telemachus says he is the one who gets to decide and sends his mother back to her room. The suitors continue to argue over the beggar using the bow. Eumaeus tells the slave to lock all the doors as an order by Telemachus. Odysseus then uses the bow perfectly, surprising all the suitors.
Summary of Odyssey Book 22
Odysseus takes off his rages and kills Antinous. The suitors object and say there will be consequences, but then Odysseus reveals himself to everyone. Odysseus massacres the suitors with the help of Telemachus and other helpers and to the great delight of Athena, who delights in spoils. Eurycleia enters after all the suitors are dead and is told to reveal every slave girl who betrayed him and his wife. They then called all the slave girls in to clean up the mess, and then they would die by long swords. Telemachus decides to kill them differently with a sailor’s rope due to them betraying him and his mother.
Summary of Odyssey Book 23
The nanny goes to tell Penelope that Odysseus has returned, but she doesn’t believe her. She then descends and sees Odysseus but is stunned and can’t believe he is back. They then get ready for bed, where Penelope mentions how there was a change to the olive bed that Odysseus made. Odysseus gets angry since the bed is magical that only he can move it. Penelope is happy since Odysseus passed the test, proving that he is back. They both are happy to reunite and spend time together, talking about Odysseus’ journey and making love.
Summary of Odyssey Book 24
The spirits of the dead suitors go to the land of the dead. Odysseus teases his dad, pretending to be a stranger, but they finally get reunited. At the very end, the fathers of the suitors fight to defend them, and Odysseus, with his father and son, fights bloodily back, until checked by Athena.
Who is Telemachus?
The son of Penelope and Odysseus who kills the slave girls with sailor’s rope
Who is Eurycleia?
She was Odysseus nanny when he was younger. She recognized him due to the scar on his foot when washing his feet.
What does it mean to be fully home for Odysseus?
Being with loved ones
Being the home-self
The idea of recognition being central to homecoming?
Odysseus disguised by Athena is recognized by each member of his household in turn
Each recognition rebuilds a lost relationship and enables Odysseus to be known in a different persona.
